The
India-Afghanistan air freight corridor, which
saw its first flight from Kabul to Delhi in
June 2017, has seen the development of a healthy
export market for goods from Afghanistan.
Today, more
than a year later, the number of freighter
flights between the two countries has gone
up to 100.
To boost exports
from Afghanistan, the USAID Commercial Horticultural
Agricultural Marketing Program (CHAMP) recently
helped to hold “Made in Afghanistan:
Nature’s Best” – a trade
event in Delhi. The move saw Afghan traders
signing $68 million worth of deals for perishable
products like pomegranates, saffron, apples,
apricots, melons, grapes, nuts, and cherries.

Top
Level Connections

The
establishment of the dedicated air freight
corridor came after a meeting between Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani (right) in September 2016.
The aim was
to provide landlocked Afghanistan access to
markets in India and Afghan farmers a quick
and direct access to India’s markets
for their perishable produce.

A
Wider Swath

The Afghan government
is keen to start similar freighter flights
to different cities in India. President Ghani’s
Economic Advisor Ajmal Ahmadi was quoted saying
that the air corridor had seen 100 air cargo
flights from Afghanistan to Delhi and Mumbai
and that more flights were on the anvil to
cities like Chennai and Hyderabad. India,
according to the President’s advisor
was the largest market for agricultural produce
and handicrafts.
Moves were also
on to start air corridors with Kazakhstan
and Gulf nations.
Exporters from
Afghanistan pointed out that exports had increased
ten-fold ever since the air corridor started.

It’s
About Fruits & Nuts

As for the fruits
and nuts sent out by Afghans to India, these
commanded prices 30 percent above prices in
Afghanistan.
The Afghan Ambassador
to Delhi, Dr Shaida Mohammad Abdali said that
Afghanistan and India had set a trade target
of $2 billion by 2020 – in fact, the
level of trade between the two countries had
gone up to $900 million.

Exports
Upward

As for exports,
the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries
had recently said that the country’s
exports had increased to more than 200,000
tons in 2018, most of it due to the air corridor
with India.
In fact, fresh
vegetables were next on the list.

Okra
Italian

In a first of
its kind move, successful trials had been
held recently with okra from Afghanistan being
sent out to Italian markets through India.
Tirthankar Ghosh

Even
as India’s freight forwarders (under
the aegis of the Federation of Freight Forwarders’
Associations in India, FFFAI, the apex body
of 28 customs clearance and freight forwarders
associations from across the country) prepare
to host the FIATA World Congress 2018 (FWC-2018)
in Delhi this September, the meet is attracting
worldwide attention.
Termed ‘The
Game Changer’ and ‘The biggest
event in the logistic industry in India,’
the Congress will be attended by more than
1,500 Indian and overseas delegates from different
parts of the world.
“The
association had been ‘trying to organize
this most important and prestigious international
logistics event’ in India for the last
couple of years,” said Debashis Dutta,
Past Chairman, FFFAI and Chairman, FIATA World
Congress 2018 Committee.

A
Dream Comes True

“It was my dream way back in 2013 (when
he was heading the association) to project
India in the world of logistics,” Dutta
told FlyingTypers.
“In 2015,
we bid to host the show and our opportunity
has come in 2018,” he said.
Dutta also
said that FWC-2018 would provide “a
huge opportunity to the country’s freight
forwarders and logistics industry “to
expand their business” as partners with
overseas counterparts who would be attending
the event.
“The
FFFAI,” Dutta said, “has created
this opportunity for the first time in the
history of freight forwarding and logistics
industry in India, and industry practitioners
should connect themselves with the world trade
and logistics market,” added Dutta.

Brand
India To The Fore

Emphasizing on showcasing Brand India through
the event, Dutta, along with a host of top
FIATA and FFFAI functionaries, were in Delhi
to meet government ministers and apprise them
about the meet.
FFFAI Chairman
Ashish Pednekar pointed out that the association
was bullish about the event in New Delhi.
“Our
government, which is very pro-active to facilitate
logistics industry in the country, has promised
full support to make the FWC 2018 a grand
success,” he said and informed that
Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Shipping, Road
Transport & Highways had confirmed his
participation.
A number of
other ministers were expected at the congress,
like the minister for Civil Aviation, Commerce
and MSME.

Out
On A Lim

“While international delegates at the
congress would like to know what is happening
in India, Indian freight forwarders can learn
about world practices,” said Stanley
Lim, Chairman of the FIATA Congress Committee.
“Most
of the top international freight forwarders
have set up their bases in India and before
long others too will come.
“India
already has cutting edge technology in IT
and this could be successfully used for the
logistics industry.
“That
is what the international freight forwarding
community wants... a strong link with global
players would benefit India,” he said.

India
Could Top China

Lim acknowledged that freight forwarders in
general were slow in adapting new technology,
but once they did so, they show their speed
in innovation.
“India
was a sleeping giant but now it has awakened
and it can do better than China,” Stanley
Lim proclaimed.

India
On The Half Shell

Lim expressed his confidence about the success
of FWC-2018 that he said was largely due to
the conducive environment for manufacturing,
the exim trade, and the logistics sector in
the country.
Commending
FFFAI’s leading role in developing freight
forwarding and logistics industry in association
with the government of India, he said:
“India
is well-prepared to host FWC-2018 in New Delhi
and it will be the most exciting international
logistics event.”
The Singapore-based
Lim also pointed out that it was time to groom
young logistics professionals (FIATA, in fact,
has a program to enthuse university graduates
to join the profession) so that they can come
forward and help the logistics industry flourish
in the country.
“Seminars
during the congress will be addressed by international
professionals, the delegates can look forward
to 800+ forwarders during the B2B sessions
that will span across the three days of the
Delhi FIATA World Congress.
“Here
will be the perfect forum for small and medium
as well as big business to interact and learn
how to develop their logistics and go global,”
said Pednekar.
“Visiting
freight forwarders will focus on the importance
of the logistics industry in India in view
of present government’s impetus on manufacturing,
trade facilitation, exim trade, and infrastructure
development,” Ashish Pednekar said.
Tirthankar
Ghosh
For More On The FIATA World Congress India
click here.

Sarah Nor, the mother of
Norliakmar Hamid, a passenger on missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370, cries at the Ministry
of Transport headquarters in Putrajaya, Malaysia
as the final report into the mystery of MH370’s
disappearance was released on July 30, 2018.
The 1,500 page investigative
report reaches an ultimate conclusion that
investigators do not know what happened to
the Malaysian Airlines plane, which vanished
four years ago.
Lead investigator Kok Soo
Chon told reporters MH370 deviated from its
path, and this was more than as a result of
system anomalies, but that the turn back was
made under manual control.
Investigators said they
put every conspiracy theory, rumor and piece
of gossip on social media “on the table”
and considered all of them. Kok said that
there is some evidence that “points
irresistibly to unlawful interference, such
as the communications ceasing and the manual
turn back” and said several times that
“unlawful interference” could
not be ruled out.
Kok also said that the 1,500
pages are “not a final report,”
and that the search might continue.

SWISS
WorldCargo received IATA’s Center for
Independent Validators (CEIV) Pharma certification
encompassing the entire airline and organization.
“I am incredibly proud of
our achievement in attaining full CEIV pharma
certification,” said Ashwin Bhat, Head
of Cargo.
“We are delighted to have
been recognized at not just our hub, but throughout
our entire airline and network.
“SWISS WorldCargo is happy
to play a valuable role in the shipment of
pharmaceutical and life-saving products worldwide
every day.

That was a lovely
memory of THE FATHER OF SHANNON. It makes
me very sad that Dick (Richard Malkin) is
no longer with us.
Hope you are
both in good health.

Lots good wishes.
SEAN MC COOL
Dublin Ireland

Hi Sean,

Thanks for your
kind note. Good to hear a great pioneer of
Irish international logistics is still on
the bridge forging ahead in 2018!
Yes, Richard
is dearly missed, but his output of stories
still yet to be published, will continue for
years ahead. Eventually the “Malkin
Legacy” to air cargo should be turned
into a book because of his incredibly detailed
reporting of the people and events during
his tenure.
Hope to see
you soon,

Geoffrey

My
dear friend, the late Al “Jazzbo”
Collins came to mind this week, as some passengers
flying budget carrier Jet2 raised hell over
the airline looping a recording by artist
Jess Glynne of her hit “Hold My Hand”
on flights.
“Hold
My Hand” played up to ten times during
boarding and post landing, causing one passenger
to write that, “next time would prefer
to walk to Portugal”.
That comment
was one of the milder complaints.
Anyway Jazzbo
is the deejay who played Tony Bennett’s
great “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”
and made that song a mega hit.
Jazz was a DJ
at a San Francisco radio station during the
1950s when that song came out and the rest,
as they say, is history.
Later Jazzbo,
who actually had a hit song “The Three
Little Pigs” (for hipsters), in an on-air
flight of fantasy, locked himself inside the
studio whilst playing the Chordettes’
“Mr. Sandman” over and over until
they finally broke down the studio door and
hauled him off for further study. Jazzbo
finished up his career in New York at the
popular WNEW AM radio station.
My friend Pete
Castelotti introduced me to Jazzbo and, for
a while we all lived together.
I recall the
day Jazzbo and I went up to see Tony Bennett
at his apartment in Manhattan, where the singer
lived across from Radio City Music Hall.
Tony presented
Jazzbo with a painting of the deejay, depicting
Jazz’s “Purple Grotto” Studio
at WNEW on Third Avenue above the Horn &
Hardart Automat.
Tony Bennett
is 92 today, still performing (God bless him)
and is a class guy who paints and signs his
work T. Benedetto (his real name). Happy Birthday,
Tony!
Tony never forgot
his big break that he got from my friend Jazzbo.
It’s good
to recall those people and those days.

Here
just for fun are three delightful summer
tunes. The
first “Hold My Hand” is driving
people crazy on Jet 2.
The second, “Mr. Sandman”
did the same thing on a San Francisco
radio station some sixty years ago.
Finally,
here is Jazzbo with Little Red Riding
Hood - A Grimm Fairy Tale For Hip Kids
(Adaptation by Steve Allen) Enjoy!Geoffrey